Sent by William Frater
Cape Town 05/03/2020
Based in Claremont
Looking for help with your business travel? Find out how I can help here
A little background...
I was born in Northern Ireland, grew up in England, Nigeria and Iraq, and lived and worked in the UK, USA, Spain, Turkey and Australia before settling in South Africa. I'm now based in Claremont, Cape Town. I have three gorgeous daughters and a passion for travel and adventure.
I've worked in the travel industry for over 12 years and independently explored many parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and USA. I am therefore aware of the importance of a well-planned and well informed trip (not to mention the potential pitfalls to avoid!) Whether you prefer to travel independently, or join an organised tour, to venture off the beaten track or indulge in luxury, to thrill seek, or relax and unwind, I can plan your trip from start to finish and am always on call should you need me while you're away.
In addition to offering my own experience and advice, being a Travel Counsellor enables me to instantly access a huge wealth of 'local knowledge' and personal experience from over 1900 fellow Travel Counsellors worldwide. Being part of a well-established and highly respected global company ensures peace of mind. Not only are your travel arrangements in professional and safe hands, but your money is too.
With access to competitive fares and the latest technology, combined with my love of planning and tailor making arrangements to suit each client, you can be confident that in choosing me to take care of your trip, you can save time, money and stress. I am only ever a phone call away, and am also happy to meet with you in person, at a place and time that suits you best.
Most importantly...I really love what I do!
I look forward to hearing from you, and helping create your next wonderful travel experience.
Whatever your holiday needs I'm here to help you, so simply give me a call or send me an email with your contact details on and I can get things started for you:
I absolutely live and breathe travel and I love to write about my experiences! Please take a look through my posts - you might find your own holiday inspiration.
28 August 2019
I was extremely honoured to be awarded VIP Ambassador status with Beachcomber Tours. As a result I enjoyed a wonderful week at Trou aux Biches in the north west of Mauritius, and Paradis, at Le Morne in the south. On the 18th August a friend and I flew overnight with Air Mauritius, directly from Cape Town to Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport in the south east, landing at 5 a.m. We had an hour and fifty minute transfer to Trou aux Biches and were met with a welcome drink, sunshine, and friendly smiling faces. After checking in to our lovely first floor room, we appreciated having a tour of the hotel and grounds, and were spoilt for choice with the activities on offer. Trou aux Biches is a beautiful, tranquil property, with dozens of large shallow pools throughout the resort. By day the expanses of water reflect the blue sky and magnificent palm trees and at night they beautifully mirror hundreds of lights. Each crescent of sea facing rooms has a secluded pool, as does each villa, surrounded by comfy loungers and tropical gardens, all an easy walk to the beach. We swam, kayaked, snorkeled, windsurfed and sailed Hobie Cats. A highlight was seeing a large turtle glide through the clear waters beneath our pedalo. We used the gym and the steam room. We indulged in the most delicious meals, some at the buffet and some at specialist restaurants which we pre-booked. We sampled tasty Thai, Indian, Mauritian, Mediterranean and Italian food. I definitely advise pre-booking both the water sports and restaurants as at peak times they can be pretty busy. After three glorious nights at Trou aux Biches with breathtaking beach sunsets we took a private transfer meandering through sugarcane fields, countryside and towns, to Paradis… WOW! I had forgotten how stunning this resort is! Again we had a warm welcome and site inspections of both Paradis and its equally fabulous, if more sedate neighbour, Dinarobin. We were lucky enough to stay in one of Paradis’ newly refurbished rooms with a light spacious bathroom/dressing room and a private balcony overlooking the beach, only metres away from the sea. The gentle lapping of waves is wonderfully relaxing! It's great that the resort only uses refilled glass bottles for water, no wasteful plastic ones anywhere, and they provide recycling bins in the rooms and throughout the hotel grounds. Decent wifi meant I could keep in touch with clients, family and friends too. This is truly a golfers’ paradise! Paradis has an amazing 18 hole course and is ideal for golfing couples, families and groups. However, as neither of us are golfers we enjoyed other activities from the wide range available at the boat house, and sports centre, including a Pilates class and some lovely long beach walks. We also managed to have plenty of time to really relax and unwind as there are dozens of quiet spots to be found with loungers and shade. We could doze in the sun or read a good book while occasionally dipping in the turquoise Indian Ocean to cool off. Le Morne mountain makes an incredible backdrop to Paradis and Dinarobin, and with the combined choice of eight 5* restaurants and wide range of activities and excursions on offer, our only regret was not having long enough to sample them all! There is so much for all ages and interests, tennis, yoga, beach volleyball, and not forgetting the evening entertainment and gorgeous Spas too. Beachcomber Tours – thank you. I am so grateful to be able to continue booking your beautiful holiday experiences for my clients with the added confidence and knowledge of personal experience!
15 April 2018
I visited Zanzibar with my sister in mid-March and absolutely loved every minute! The combination of the island's rich history and idyllic beaches made it an unforgettable travel experience. There are faster ways of getting there from Cape Town, flying with Mango direct from Jo'burg for example, but I took the slower route with SAA, via Jo'burg and then Dar es Salaam. It was well worth the travel time though, and the little 12-seater Coastal Aviation flight from Dar to Zanzibar gave a fabulous bird's eye view leaving the Tanzanian coastline and the descent onto the 'Spice Island' as Zanzibar is also known. As a Brit I needed to buy a visa on arrival in Tanzania, but South African passport holders do not need one. Stone Town: My sister was volunteering at an orphanage on mainland Tanzania so she made her own way to Stone Town by taking one of the frequent and efficient ferries from Dar Es Salaam. The ferries offer deck seating or aircon comfort and the tickets can be pre-booked online or purchased at the ferry terminal. We met up at the Tembo House Hotel, overlooking this incredibly busy stretch of water, and ideally located for exploring Stone Town. From the hotel we could watch hundreds of boats go by, from tiny dhows to enormous cargo ships and everything in between! We spent two days in Stone Town which was enough to give us a taste of the ancient city with its labyrinth of streets, crumbling churches, shops selling everything you can imagine, and magnificent carved wooden doors which all tell a story. We wandered through local markets, ate unidentifiable but delicious food at the Forodhani Gardens and enjoyed sundowners at quirky rooftop bars while admiring the beautiful sunsets. There are plenty of restaurants to choose from to suit every budget. We arranged with a very helpful guide to give us a walking tour which was fascinating. We learnt so much about the history, religion, politics and architecture. I recommend using local knowledge rather than trying to navigate the place yourself, you can miss out on a lot, or worse, get totally lost! It's a good idea to tailor make it to include the things you're interested in too. The Slave Museum in my opinion is a must. It's harrowing and gruesome and I cried at the injustice of the barbaric conditions, but it's an interesting and important part of history and has been well documented and displayed at the museum. It also rightly highlights the ongoing terror of modern slavery. Nungwi: From Stone Town we took a taxi to Nungwi, on the north coast of Zanzibar. The hour and a quarter drive gave us a glimpse of the countryside and villages, and when we first caught sight of the coast we were completely blown away by the colours and beauty of the sea...WOW! It's breathtaking! Three days flew by, with long beach walks and frequent dips into the exquisite turquoise sea, eating good food, snorkelling, and bargaining at a Masai beach market. There are loads of activities offered at the resorts and on the beach, such as boat trips and water sports, so you can have as active or as restful a holiday as you choose. Going on a Spice Tour is a great way to learn about the significance of spices to Zanzibar which date back to the 16th Century. You can see, smell and taste the many spices that the island is famous for. Tours typically last two to three hours and are widely available, in most cases including transfers and lunch at a farm. Our beach bungalow at Langi Langi was ideally positioned to enjoy the sea views. It was spacious and cool, with effective mozzie nets around the four poster bed. An elevated restaurant deck built over the sea gave an amazing setting for the turquoise ocean backdrop of the day and twinkly lights along the beach at night. The best part of Nungwi for me was the idyllic temperature and colour of the water... it was absolutely beautiful! It’s also good to know that the South East coast of Zanzibar is peaceful and picturesque with some great beach accommodation too. We enjoyed one more night in Stone Town at the well located Beyt-Al-Salaam Boutique Hotel, before catching a ferry the next morning to the mainland. From there we said goodbye, and I began my journey back to Cape Town with SAA. The Zanzibaris that we met were incredibly friendly and helpful. The island had an overriding sense of peace and calm and as a visitor it felt a safe place to be. My trip to Zanzibar was a truly wonderful experience and one that I can thoroughly recommend!
16 July 2017
Visiting this part of Europe at the end of May was an ideal time to go, the weather was absolutely beautiful and we beat the summer crowds! First stop Venice, with family, and what a way to arrive…the Alilaguna from Marco Polo Airport gave us a wonderful introduction to the Venetian way of life and we were dropped minutes from St Mark’s Square where we were staying. Our first full day was spent visiting the islands of Murano (where the famous glass is made), Burano (where lace-making is the speciality) and Torcello (where we had a delicious lunch at Osteria al Ponte del Diavolo). Each island has unique character and charm and the boat rides in between are also a stunning way to see different angles of Venice. Of all the amazing sights, The Basilica, Doges Palace, Correr Museum, Ca Rezzonico, Rialto Bridge etc. without doubt some of the most magical moments were spent exploring the quieter canals, piazzas, churches and bridges and savouring the sights and sounds of Venetian life, with the magnificent backdrop of Italian history and culture. A boat trip along the Grand Canal is a must, both by day and by night, and there’s a fabulous birds eye view from the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, a department store near the Rialto Bridge. En-route to Lake Garda, we had a great day in Padua, a beautiful city only half an hour from Venice, with incredible architecture, a prestigious university, cathedrals, park and piazzas. Driving east, through the Soave wine region we came to our next stop at Desenzano del Garda. Three days flew by, exploring the southern part of the lake (ferry day passes are available at the town harbours dotted along the lake shore). I especially loved Bardolino and Sirmione. The view at the top of Sirmione Castle is well worth the climb. I then took a train to Arona, to meet up with friends at Lake Maggiore. Wow…Maggiore is an enchanting lake, which again, is best explored by boat. We stopped at the three little ‘Isolas’ or islands, and were mesmerised by walls of flowers, quaint shops and majestic buildings in the middle of this vast lake….Arona was a lovely place to stay, and we even had a swim in the lake…with swans gliding by! A trip to Lake Como is a must. Though Como itself is big and busy, the centre of the old town is lovely and once on the lake it’s peaceful and impossibly picturesque. It has a different feel to the other lakes, being narrower, with steeper lush green sides and tucked away grand villas with immaculate gardens leading down to stone boathouses. Cernobbio was an interesting stop, as was Moltrasio with its cascading waterfall. Next stop was Verona which I absolutely loved! Fantastic to stay very centrally in the old part of town, being close to the Arena, piazzas and markets, Castelvecchio, museums and churches. Verona comes alive at night and the evening atmosphere in the streets with buzzing bars, shops and restaurants is electric! My last stop was in Florence by train, and a fabulous note to end on. Highlights for me were spending hours in the Accademia and Uffizi Galleries and wandering around the Boboli Gardens with its incredible views from the top, to the city one side, and Tuscan landscape the other. Oh and sampling delicious olives and truffle oil in the Food Halls. Walking back over the Ponte Vecchio late in the day, it’s fascinating to see the wooden casket like exteriors of the closed up shops, and the changing colour of the water beneath as the sun sets. Italy, I will be back…for the sights (the Art, the architecture, the water, canals, lakes and fountains), for the sounds (a string quartet in St Mark’s Square, the beautiful Italian language and church bells ringing), the smells (of walls and roofs covered in fragrant jasmine, coffee percolating, and aromas from trattorias and osterias at dusk) and the tastes (a chilled aperitivo, prosecco, asparagus and porcini risotto and of course gelato at any time of day!) Ciao, ritornerò!
Cape Town 05/03/2020
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